Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

July, 26, 2017

It’s 11:30 pm and Ren is 4 hours into his late night gaming session with Futaba, much to Morgana’s dismay. Futaba and Ren make it a point to talk to each other at least once a week and play video games twice a week. The calls act as a status update of their lives, which helps them maintain their pseudo-sibling relationship. Most of the time the calls turn into a mellow gaming session, usually playing a relaxing or slower paced game. Today’s call was a short one. With summer starting there was no need for a long update, as the only snag in their week was finals. They didn’t need to play a slow game to chill from a bad week, so they booted up a fast paced shooter, which turned into Futaba yelling at Ren to cover point, with Morgana screaming at him to sleep. 

“These kids are hot garbage” Futaba playfully sneered. Placing her mic next to her mouth, her voice sounded louder and distorted, ”I could play better in my sleep. Ren, let’s get another game going!” 

“Sorry Futaba, but I’m going to hit the hay. Morgana won’t stop yelling at me to go to sleep.” Ren stood up from his chair and began to stretch

“It’s for your own good!” Morgana swatted at Ren’s leg 

“Lame! Oh well. I’m going to continue destroying kids.”

“Good night to you too, Futaba.”

Ren ended his call with Futaba, gently placing his headset on his monitor while turning off his pc. He looked outside his window, it was dark outside, save for a few streetlights. It really was time to sleep. 

“I was already planning to go to sleep.” Ren scratched Morgana’s chin, eliciting a soft purr from him

“Hey! Stop it!” Morgana protested

“I know, I know, not a cat.”

“Hmpf.”

Ren chuckled, no matter how many times Morgana complained about being a cat he sure loved the perks of being one, as he walked out into the bathroom to complete his nightly routine. While brushing his teeth, listening to music, Ren felt a vibration coming from his pocket. It was a text notification from Ryuji.

Ryuji’s chat:

Yo Renren!

You gonna be busy?

Tomorrow?

Shouldn’t be, why?

Sick!

I’m gonna visit! 

Show me some cool stuff!

I’ll be there around 12.

Sure.

👍

👍

“Who was that?” Morgana jumped up to the sink to get a better view of Ren’s phone.

“Just Ryuji.” Ren tilted his phone for Morgana to see Ryuji’s chat icon

“Tell him to leave you alone!”

“Ok, I’ll do that but just as a heads up, he’s coming over tomorrow.” 

“W-what!?!”

“Good night Morgana.”

“Wait no! Tell Ryuji to stay home!”

“I think it’s a bit too late for that.”

Morgana continued to plead, trying to get Ren to reconsider, but during his time in Shibuya, he created an airtight routine to do as much as possible, so Morgana's pleas fell on deaf ears once Ren’s head hit the pillow. He woke up at the crack of dawn because of Morgana’s pettiness waking him up as early as he could. Oh well, once Ren wakes up there’s no chance of him going back to sleep, so instead he freshened up in the bathroom. Ren walked downstairs drying his hair with a towel and turned into the kitchen to make breakfast where he spotted a note taped to the fridge.

"We'll be gone for a few days. Sorry for leaving again on such short notice. We left you some money by the tv. Make sure to spend it wisely." The note had shoddy handwriting and seemed to be hastily written

Sure enough when he walked into the living room 15,000 yen was left underneath the tv’s right leg, not that Ren would need the money. He threw his towel on the couch and walked back into the kitchen to where he would prepare breakfast. It was 5:48 when Ren finished breakfast and with multiple hours before Ryuji arrived, Ren set an alarm for 11 and went about his day as he normally would, feeding Morgana, watering and pruning a couple house plants Haru gave him, cleaning his room, and at around 7:22 he started reading an art book Yusuke gifted him. He was about a quarter of the way into Impressionism when the alarm rang. He placed the bookmark he received from Lavenza inside the book, grabbed his bag and looked for Morgana.

“Do you want go meet up with Ryuji?” Ren inquired, “It’s been a couple months since you last saw him in person.” 

“I’ll only greet him.” Morgana jumped into Ren’s bag, “But after that I’ll leave you two alone.” 

“Suit yourself.” he shrugged

They arrived a few minutes before Ryuji’s said arrival. Looking around there was no one at the train station, except for a few employees. Ren was giving Morgana some treats when he heard the train blow its horn. The train settled in front of Ren with only one passenger exiting the train, a faux-blonde guy, with short hair, a tank top, shorts and a fishing rod sticking out of his backpack. 

“Ryuji!” Ren exclaimed as he walked towards him

“Renren!” Ryuji replied in kind 

They approached each other, giving each other a firm handshake before pulling into a hug. Patting the other’s back.

“It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?” Ren pulled away from the hug 

“It sure has. Shujin just isn’t the same without you or the cat. Say, where’s Morgana?” Ryuji looked around and his eyes fell onto Ren’s

“I’m right here. And I’m not a cat you big oaf!” Morgana wriggled his head out of the bag

“What’s up Morgana!” Ryuji cheerfully smiled, choosing to ignore the last remark, putting his face right next to the bag. Morgana stared at Ryuji emotionlessly and silently, with Ryuji’s smile slowly turning into a nervous grin. 

“Nothing. I’ve been doing just fine.” Morgana said matter-of-factly, and with that Morgana completed what he set out to do. He jumped out of the bag and left the station without another word. 

“What the eff was that?!?!”

“I don’t know. Apparently he only wanted to say hi.” 

“Bro, not gonna lie, I kinda wanted to hang out with him. It’s been awhile, y’know?” Ryuji looked in the direction where Morgana left

“I’m sure Morgana has a reason for leaving.” 

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Ryuji turned his attention back to Ren and smiled, “So this is Inaba? Thought there would at least be some more buildings.”

“We’re not currently in Inaba. We’ll need to take the bus to actually arrive there.”

“Gotcha. I’m so excited to see Inaba! I know you said that nothing happens but I did some research and I found that there were some cool places to visit. Like the blacksmith, Daidara, wasn’t it? Oh! And then there’s that river too, so I brought my fishing rod!” Ryuji listed off the places and then quickly brought his bag in front of him showing off his fishing rod

Ren led them outside of the train station, where they waited for a bus to take them to Inaba. With Inaba being such a small town their bus ride was just as empty as Ryuji’s train ride with Ryuji spending most of the ride to Inaba catching Ren up about what’s been happening with the third years in Shujin since his departure. They were dropped off in front of the gas station making it a quick walk to Daidara Metalworks. 

“Yo! This is so sick!” Ryuji grinned as he held up a halberd that was taller than Ren and maybe Yusuke. “Take a picture of me with this!” Ren chuckled as he pulled out his phone and took a photo of an enthusiastic Ryuji holding the halberd in a soldier stance, keeping himself and the weapon as straight as possible

Ren showed Ryuji the pictures he took and Ryuji asked Ren to send him the pictures later. Ryuji placed the halberd where he first encountered it and they both continued to browse the vast array of weaponry laid out within the shop.

“This shop would’ve been really helpful in the metaverse. Prop weapons worked well but maybe real weapons would have been more helpful.” Ren grabbed a simple dagger. It had been a while since Ren assumed the identity of Joker, but the dagger felt right at home in his hands. “But it would’ve been difficult to get any of this into Tokyo.”

“Yeah, I mean who knows what actual weapons and armor could do for us.” Ryuji added as he grabbed a large scythe from one of the display racks. “But this is so cool to look at! Man, I wish I could bring something back home.”

“Ha, good luck getting through security.” 

“Ugh, yeah, nevermind. No chance in hell I’ll get past them.”

They continued perusing around the shop looking at different weapons. Only a few of the Phantom Thieves would have had any real weapons, as a few of them had fairly unique weapons. Ren continued to search through the daggers when Ryuji’s stomach grumbled. 

“Are there any good places to eat around here?” Ryuji sheepishly asked with a nervous grin

“Yeah. I got you.” 

They said goodbye to Daidara and they walked up to the northern shopping district, where Ren  took Ryuji to the Chinese Diner Aiya. 

“This is delicious!” Ryuji exclaimed through moutfuls of food, “I can’t get enough!”

Ryuji continued to shovel food into his mouth, almost choking on a mouthful of food, only being rescued by Ren’s quick thinking. Ren handed Ryuji a glass of water and Ryuji drank it all to dislodge the food in his mouth. 

“Thanks man.” Ryuji said with a small cough punctuating the end of his gratitude

“No problem. Let’s take it easy.” Ren gestured for the chef to bring another cup of water for Ryuji

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

After learning his lesson they both ate much slower after that fiasco. It was an enjoyable meal despite the minor hiccup that occurred not so long ago. Ren dismissed Ryuji as he paid for their meal.

“Dude, I appreciate you paying, but I could’ve paid for myself.” he pulled out his wallet and showed off a couple different bills of different denominations

“I know, but if you try to put ¥10,000,000 in a bank, they tend to think some less than savory things about you.”

“Damn! You still have that much left over?!?” 

“I already put as much as I could into my savings account. I’ve also tried to spend my money here but you can only spend so much in Inaba. I’ve also sneaked a bit of money into Yusuke’s account thanks to Futaba’s hacking, so I think I have around ¥8,000,000.”

“I never would’ve thought about putting it in my savings. So you’ll have like even more money later, right” Ren nodded, “And even right now you still have so much. So, whenever I’m with you, you’re going to have to pay for everything. You got that, right?” Ryuji smirked 

“When I’m around I don’t plan for anyone to spend a single yen.” Ren mirrored his expression with a smirk of his own

With that, they walked over to Ren’s house. It was up the road past Tatsumi Textiles leading out to the road, they turned right and walked for about 5 minutes before they got to Ren's house. 

“This is a really nice house.” Ryuji commented as he walked into the living room, looking around just for the sake of it

“It is.” Ren replied somberly, it was nice like he said, but it ended up empty more often than not

“Do you have any games we can play?” 

“What kind of game do you want to play?”

“I wanna try out some sick new combos! Do you have Xenoverse 2?”

“Yeah. It’s upstairs.” 

“Let’s run it!” Ryuji started walking up the stairs, “And after a couple rounds let’s go fishing.”

“Alright.” Ren replied as he followed after Ryuji

Ryuji waited at the top of the stairs for Ren to show him the way into his room. They entered the room and Ryuji looked around noticing a couple video game posters, a desk with a laptop, and Morgana who made himself comfortable on Ren’s bed. Ren turned on the tv and booted up Xenoverse 2. Ren navigated around the lobby before entering the multiplayer area, where he then selected local play and handed Ryuji a controller to pick his character. Ren selected Hit as his character while Ryuji chose Broly. 

Ren and Ryuji were playing together getting louder with each passing minute. Morgana was jolted awake when Ryuji lost for the third time in a row making the score 3-3, with Ren coming back in a reverse sweep. 

“What is he doing here?!?” Morgana tried to yell over Ren and Ryuji but his voice was mostly drowned out by the video game

“What’s up Morgana! I missed you! Why did you leave at the station?” Ryuji said hurriedly as he tried his best to goad Ren into attacking 

Morgana didn’t want to answer that question. He left because wanted to avoid pointless arguments so he made himself scarce. But it turns out that Ryuji actually wanted to see him so there was no point for his absence, but Morgana’s pride couldn’t allow him to tell Ryuji the truth.

“I knew you would be here,” Morgana replied, it was true but he didn’t want to get into the real reason why

“LET’S EFFING GO!!!!” Ryuji yelled at the top of his lungs, with Ryuji at a sliver of health and Ren with around twenty percent, Ryuji committed to a risky read, but it paid off, catching Ren in a combo to finally take away the last bit of health

“I’m done, I just hit the peak of my career.” 

“Nice read, though.” Ren courteously replied, turning off his console, “I’m going to fetch a couple snacks from the kitchen before we go fishing, you want some?”

“Yeah, can I get a cola? My energy levels are drained.”

“Gotchu.” Ren walked out and headed to the kitchen

An uneasy silence permeated throughout the room. Ryuji couldn’t think of anything to talk about while Morgana was thinking of a question to ask him. The distance between them felt gargantuan yet they sat no more than 6 feet from each other.  

“So how did physical therapy go?” Morgana finally asked

“It’s been something to say the least.” Ryuji chuckled, “Physical therapy wasn’t really in the cards for me when I initially broke my leg, but it has made me realize some things. There are people of all ages and they’re all there for different reasons. Thankfully, most aren’t there for tragic reasons, like I was, but some people, are hesitant to begin.” he stood up and sat next to Morgana, closing their initial distance

Ryuji hesitated a bit before speaking, unsure of what he wanted to say “...And I just love helping them. I know that sounds weird, but it’s such a great feeling seeing them slowly improve. Maybe I feel this way cause I want them to make the best of a shitty situation or maybe for some other reason, but I want to be there for them, well people in general. I want people to rely on me, and honestly, I’m considering becoming a physical therapist or maybe a coach. I don’t really know all the details, I just know that I wanna be someone who helps people.”

“That’s so like you Ryuji.” Ren’s voice came from behind the door slightly muffled

“What the eff? When did you get there?”

“I’ve been here for a hot minute,”

“What do you mean by that Ren?” Morgana interjected 

“First off, sorry for eavesdropping.” Ren started

“It’s fine,” Ryuji quickly answered

“Second off, sorry if it sounded mean spirited, but it makes sense that you would want to be in a profession that helps other people. You were always a big fan of helping others in your own ways. Hell, you’ve made workout routines for the Phantom Thieves, greatly improving our performance in the Metaverse, and you’ve taken blows for many of us. It suits you.” 

“Thanks, man. I haven’t explained this to anyone yet, aside from my mom and Ann, but you know they’re the first to know.”

“I get it.” Ren shrugged, “Family comes first.”

“So does Lady Ann” Morgana added

Ren and Ryuji had a quick chuckle, at Morgana’s swooning of Ann. 

“A-aren’t you two supposed to go fishing?” Morgana said with as much confidence as he could muster, but he was too flustered to have any bravado behind what he said

“It’s okay Morgana. But yeah we should probably get going, just let me get my stuff and we’ll get out of your hair.”

Ren walked into his backyard to grab his fishing rod from the shed. It was still in good condition with a bit of wear from his occasional fishing trips with Morgana. After grabbing it and a box of bait and tackle, he prepared to head out. 

“Make sure to bring me some trout, those taste the best!” Morgana mentioned before they headed out

“Don’t worry we’ll get some for you.” Ryuji replied

And with that they were headed to the Samegawa Flood Plain. It was a decent distance from Ren’s house but when they got there he placed the box of bait and tackle in between them and they began fishing in amicable silence. After a bit they hit a snag, no fish was biting. Ren looked at Ryuji and he could tell something was off about Ryuji. He was restless, jittering his leg up and down, with his right hand rubbing his neck. 

“Is something on your mind?” Ren asked in a hushed whisper 

“Yeah." Ryuji quietly replied, "How’d you know?”

“Your body language.”

“haha.” Ryuji let out a weak chuckle, “You caught me.”

Ryuji went quiet letting silence once again rest over them. He seemed to calm down but there was still the issue of what was eating at Ryuji.

“Is it Ann?" Ren cautiously approached the subject 

“Yeah. You should consider being a mind reader.” Ryuji joked weakly

“Did something bad happen?" Ren pushed the topic even further, if he can’t get it out of him right now it would continue consume him

“No. Well… maybe…, just…  just give me a moment.”

Ryuji placed his fishing rod down before taking a few deep breaths. Ren also placed his fishing rod down to focus his attention on Ryuji. It took a bit of pushing but Ryuji finally opened up

“Well it’s just that, I started a relationship with Ann knowing that she was going to study abroad and I was fine with it. But as the day she leaves comes closer I’ve become… nervous? No, that’s not it… scared, that’s it, I’m scared. We’ve been hitting it off and I don’t want to lose it, you know? Ryuji paused, waiting for an answer

“I do.” was all Ren could say without detracting from Ryuji’s issue

Ryuji smiled. He paused before continuing with a bit more confidence, “It’s hard to imagine her being thousands of miles away when we just started dating. It’s going to be difficult to maintain a relationship. We're going to be in a long distance relationship. She's in a different time zone and what if it won’t work out between us?” Ryuji paused again, but didn’t wait for an answer before continuing

 “And what if something were to happen to her? I won’t be able to help her and I’ll be stuck here as just some useless boyfriend. But the scariest part is about Ann. She’s drop dead gorgeous, she’s going to America and I’m sure she can find someone better than me…” Ryuji trailed off, with tears starting to well in his eyes. Ryuji went quiet again but he wasn’t in a condition to continue so Ren spoke again

“She won’t leave you, I’m confident. She loves you and you love her, that won’t change. Be confident, she chose you because you are you, no one, not a soul will ever be you.” Ren started, making sure to project his voice without being too loud, “But your other fears are totally justified. Something massive is about to happen and it’s going to change your lives. A lot of things are going to be out of your control, but I know that you and Ann will both have the strength to get through this. It might be scary at first because you can’t control some things but remember, not everything will ever go as planned, but make the most out of the situation and I know that you two will figure it out.”

A few tears fell from Ryuji’s eyes and he started to sniffle, “You have a big heart and you can’t help but worry about things like this, but I know that you are also strong enough to push through this with her, and as they say, ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

Ryuji sniffled before letting the dam break. Ryuji let it all out, his negative emotions were now put in the open, and they could stop eating away at him. It felt cathartic to say the least. Since May Ryuji was looking for someone to talk to about this, he was thinking about talking to Sumire about his problems because she shared a few of his problems, but he didn’t feel like he was close enough to her to talk about this sort of thing. And that was the same problem with the other girls, so that only left Yusuke to talk to. But his problem was the opposite of Sumire, being close but not sharing any similarities. So when he found out Ren was free, he jumped at the opportunity to finally have someone to confide in.

“Damn. When you put it like that it makes me feel stupid for worrying so much.” Ryuji said in between sniffles

“Let your emotions out, it’s not good for you to bottle up your emotions. It's normal to worry about the future, so don’t sweat it.” Ren replied quietly 

“Yeah you’re right.” 

They went back to fishing in amicable silence. They caught a couple Inaba trout for Morgana but they released most of what they caught. The sun had started to set and Ryuji pulled out his phone to take a photo of a particularly large fish.

“Shit!” Ryuji exclaimed, jumping up to his feet

“What’s up?!?” Ren asked, copying Ryuji’s actions

“Dude I gotta make it back to the train station! Help me pack up?” Ryuji explained, grabbing his fishing rod 

“I got you.”

They rushed to pack up Ryuji’s items while Ren left his items behind. It was a small town so chances are no one was going to steal anything. They ran back to the house to grab the remainder of Ryuji’s stuff. At this point they weren’t going to make it to the bus stop in time. So Ren grabbed some keys near the entrance of the house and started up a car. 

“Get in!” Ren exclaimed

“Nice!” Ryuji replied, running into the passenger seat

Ren carefully exited the driveway before proceeding to break many traffic laws that would certainly get even the most decorated driver their license revoked. Ren parked right outside the station before sprinting into the train station with a few minutes to spare.

“We… made… it.” Ren said in between short breaths

“That was so cool!!!” Ryuji exclaimed 

They had a hearty laugh before hearing the same train horn from when Ryuji first arrived. 

“Dude I can’t thank you enough for today. I had a great time here. Although I'm sorry for being such a downer.”

“No problem, that's what friends are for.” 

“I’ll make sure to make the next visit even better!” 

As the train blows its horn again and pulls into the station, they give each other a hug as the train doors begin to open. They pull away and Ryuji jogs to enter the train car. Ren waves as the train leaves the station and Ryuji reciprocates the gesture. When Ren was sure Ryuji was gone he drove back to the river and packed up his items, nothing was stolen as he expected and surprisingly no cops pulled him over from his previous display of driving. Ren made sure to return the car in the same condition before he took it. Tank was almost full, it was parked a tad too close to the wall of the garage, and the items around the garage were put back in place. The only discrepancy was that the odometer read slightly higher than before, but he could change it back to its original state with a little bit of “tinkering”. He entered his house with the Inaba trout Morgana asked for, but he had a disapproving look. 

“You know you’re not supposed to use the car right?” Morgana scolded

“It was an emergency, alright? I’m sure they’ll understand.” Ren explained

“If they even find out.” he muttered under his breath

“What was that?!?” 

“Nothing, nothing. It should be fine.”

Morgana was about to protest when Ren threw a fish at his feet. He excitedly tore into the fish stopping any lecture that he would’ve started. Ren walked back into his room where he received two notifications, a text from Ryuji and one from Futaba. 

Ryuji’s Chat:

Thanks for showing me around!

I’ll make sure not to bring the mood down next time. 

It’s always nice to have a meaningful talk.

But yeah. We should visit my highschool.

Yo that’d be so cool!

I’m so down for that!

😀

😀

—

Futaba’s Chat: 

Get on! Let’s bully some kids!

Alright just give me a minute.

Hurry up! 

He booted up his laptop and prepared for another late night gaming session with Futaba and another lecture about sleep from Morgana. But hey it’s summer, best to mess up his sleep schedule now than actually during school.

Chapter Text

July, 28, 2017

7:27 am, it’s been an hour since Ren woke up. Summer just started it was time to hit the beach and split open some watermelon, or well that’s how it should be, but instead of relaxing he was doing summer work. Morgana pestered him to at least start on his work so he doesn’t have to worry about doing any of it at the last minute. Ren was in the midst of solving tension problems when his phone buzzed.

Ann’s chat:

Hey Ren!! I’m doing my final shoot before going to America.

Let’s meet up in Okina City, k?

Morgana saw Ren typing on his phone and he began to swat at Ren’s phone. 

“Get off your phone and focus on your work.” Morgana warned

“Ok, ok. Just let me tell Ann that we’re going to miss her final photo shoot, because I’m oh soooo busy with school work and I could never make the time to visit.” Ren snickered

“Wait no! We can go see Ann!” Morgana pleaded

Ren laughed as he checked his messages, Ryuji sent a Youtube video, Yusuke an art piece he was working on, and Ann had just sent another message

Ann’s chat:

I’ll be done by 12. 

We’ll be there.

Yay!!! 

And with that Ren was about to meet with another one of his friends. It was exciting to see another friend so soon.They were all still close even though they’ve been separated for over a month by know. Ren looked at the time 7:32, more than enough time. He breezed through his science homework up until 9:35, which gave him time to complete his daily routine. He grabbed his bag and waited at the door while Morgana finished grooming himself. 

“Morgana!” Ren called out, “Are you ready?”

“Give me a second. As a gentleman I need to look dashing.” Morgana replied

Despite being a cat he cared far too much about his appearance. Ren walked to the bus station, with Morgana jumping into the bag. He entered the bus and read his art book and finally finished the section on Impressionism and began the section on Surrealism, with artists such as Salvador Dalí, André Breton, and René Magritte. He was beginning to learn about the impact of Surrealism when the bus announced his arrival to Okina City. He placed the book back in his bag receiving a sharp hiss from Morgana and he thanked the bus driver. He walked out of the bus and into the shade to keep himself and Morgana cool. 

Ann’s chat:

We’ve made it!

Great! The shoot is a couple buildings past Chagall Cafe.

We’re still in the middle of the shoot, but feel free to come by.

Ren passed by the cafe, noticing a small crowd of people ahead of him, he shuffled past the crowd of people into an employee only zone. Where he picked up a cold water bottle from the craft service station. 

“Who are you?” a suited woman approached, she had an air of authority, similar to Sae, but she seemed overworked, eye bags were the most obvious sign “Do you belong here?”

“Yes.” Ren fibbed, “I’m Ann’s consultant. I usually contact her through phone but today’s different.”

“You look a bit… young. How old are you?” 

“I-i’m a dad.” 

“Not again,” Morgana sighed

Morgana’s words were unintelligible for anyone aside from a select few but it worked out this time. The woman’s eyes widened up a bit and when Morgana popped his head out of the bag her eye’s were sparkling. 

“May I?” 

“Go ahead.” 

“Pardon for the accusation, but Takamaki has become increasingly popular and it’s getting harder and harder to control the crowd.” the woman explained while petting Morgana 

“I know, it’s not your fault. You’re just doing your job.” 

“Thank you for understanding.” she bowed before leaving them alone

Ren drank some water before giving some to Morgana. They arrived earlier than expected but it wasn’t long before Ann spotted them. She hugged Ren and scratched Morgana’s chin. 

“You guys came!” Ann exclaimed

“Of course! He was really excited to come here.” 

“Oh Ann! We wouldn’t miss it for the world.” 

“Thank you!” 

“So what’s up?” 

“I wanted to hang out with everyone personally before leaving. You were the last one, so I had a photoshoot scheduled here so you didn’t have to make the long trip!”

“Ann is so thoughtful.” Morgana 

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know, I know, but you’ve done so much for me.” 

Ren wanted to protest but he knew how headstrong Ann could be so he dropped the issue.

“So, do you know what you want to do around here? If not, we could show you around.” 

“I’ve been here a couple times, so I know where we should go, just sit tight. We still have a few photos to take but after that we’re good to go.”

“Gottcha. We’ll wait for you here.” 

They watched Ann model for her photo shoot, although they were only there for a little bit they noticed she was having so much fun. Her movements were expressive, her smile was infectious, and her hair shined in the almost afternoon sun. When the photoshoot finished Ann said her farewells to everyone involved with the photoshoot, before walking over to Ren and Morgana. 

“So there’s this rom-com showing at the theater and I really want to watch it.” 

“Sure let’s go.” 

On their way to the cinema Ann mentioned Chagall Cafe and that they should try it after the movie. Ren agreed. They walked into the cinema and Ren paid for their tickets and snacks, Ann was appreciative albeit a bit hesitant. They watched the movie but Ren couldn’t help but think about Ryuji. Ann seems so chill about everything, it feels a bit uncanny. Ren tried his best to ignore the thought but it still lingered in the back of his mind. They walked out of the movie as the credits rolled and they walked over to Chagall Cafe. Ann ordered a coffee with cream and sugar while Ren ordered the original blend. Ren noticed that it had a strong aroma, it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t sweet it was just kind of there. It was odd, spending time around so many different types of coffee and learning so much about them under the guidance of Sojiro he could not distinguish the beans used for this specific blend. All that was left to do was take a sip, and it could not have ended worse. His mouth was overloaded with different tastes, sweet, nutty, bitter, spicy, sour!?!? Ren’s brain was struggling to comprehend what was currently being ingested and decided to give up, causing Ren’s body to go stiff and pass out.

“OH MY GOD!” Ann exclaimed, “Do we call an ambulance?!” 

“No he’ll be fine.” The owner came over and lifted Ren’s head up and opened his eye lids. “This always happens to people who aren’t prepared.” 

“Uhm… sureeeee.” Ann replied unconvinced 

The owner walked away, leaving Morgana and Ann to wonder what the hell just happened. Morgana quickly escaped the confines of the bag and checked Ren’s pulse, faint yet steady.

“He’s fine,” 

Ann gave a sigh of relief. She shook Ren and he didn’t respond remaining motionless. 

“Lady Ann. What are you going to do in America?” Morgana asked 

“I’m going to continue my modeling career while attending highschool over there. TImezones are going to make it harder to see all of you but I’ll make sure we can find some time to talk. But they have Saturday off which is major plus!” 

“Is that when you are gonna call?”

“Yeah, I’ll try my best to make time to call.” 

Morgana made idle chit chat with Ann. Ren’s eyes fluttered awake. He was groggy, vision partially blurred, small headache with ringing in his ears.

It should be illegal to serve that drink. Ren thought 

“W-whattime is it?” Ren asked slurring his speech, his body still feeling the lingering effects of the coffee

“It’s 2:49.” Ann replied

Ren nodded, but before saying anything he stayed silent in an attempt to regain his composure. 

“When do you leave for America?” Ren asked when he felt like normal

“At the end of July. I’m fully packed, so I came here to visit. I wanted to tell you two in person.”

There was only three days left until Ann left to America, but there was one question that still lingered in Ren’s mind.

“What about Ryuji?” Ren’s voice sounded more confrontational than expected, but Ann was unfazed. 

She instead smiled.

“Oh! I’m going to call him as much as I can and text him everyday. I’ll try to mail some cool things that I think he might like.” 

She continued to gush on and on excitedly talking about Ryuji. Morgana was only slightly salty, but Ren was relieved to see how excited she was. He didn’t know why he was so worried about Ryuji, maybe because he saw how he worried he was about Ann a few days ago, but he’s happy to see that his fears were unwarranted. Although Ann may have spent a bit too much time gushing about Ryuji as Morgana began to shed a tear. 

“I’m glad to hear that. I’m sure Morgana’s happy as well.” Ren looked at Morgana who looked away from him

“I’m so sorry Morgana!” Ann reached over and scratched his chin eliciting a small purr, “So will you guys be able to come to the airport?” 

“Of course! I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Even if all the stars came crashing down-” 

“Of course we’ll make it.” Ren cut Morgana off before he could enter a Yusuke like soliloquy 

“Great!” 

They continued to engage in idle chit chat before going their separate ways. As Ren headed home Ann sent him the time and location of the airport. He set an alarm before finishing cleaning around the house. 

July 31st, 2017

It was 4 am. Ren readied himself while Morgana groomed himself. They wanted to arrive early. The trip to Shibuya was a long one, filled with catching up on the lost hours of sleep. Morgana woke Ren up right as a synthetic female voice announced.

“Shibuya. This is Shibuya.”

He exited and only slightly got lost looking for the Ginza line to take the train heading to Yongen-Jaya. He arrived a few hours early at 8:37, the smell of curry wafted in the air outside of Leblanc, although the sign read “closed” Ren opened the door with a spare key. He saw Yusuke enjoying a cup of coffee and a plate of curry with Futaba opposite of him, while Sojiro was busy taking care of another batch of curry in the back. 

“Welcome, Ren.” Yusuke gave a small wave 

“Hi, Yusuke.” Ren replied

“You’re here!” Futaba exclaimed running up and hugging Ren

“Of course I am,” 

“Welcome back kid.” Sojiro readied up a plate of curry and set it on the bar

“Thank you.” 

Sojiro set a cup of coffee while Ren was happily enjoying his breakfast. Ren finished his food and sat across from Yusuke and started to discuss art using what he read as talking points with Yusuke, who was more than ecstatic about having someone to talk to about art, Futaba even occasionally joined in with quite a bit of knowledge as well. As they talked more and more about art, the Phantom Thieves began to arrive, the first to arrive was Makoto with Haru. Sumire arrived not long after and with that everyone was here except for Ryuji. Ann was busy with the final preparations and Ryuji was God knows where. 

“Ren, can you call Ryuji? I called him once before but he didn’t answer. I’m worried he may have overslept.” Makoto worridely explained

“On it.” 

Ren dialed Ryuji and walked outside to take the call. No answer. He tried again and still no response. Third time and still no response. Ren decided to just shoot him a text.

Ryuji’s chat:

Yo! Where are you? Everyone’s at Leblanc waiting for you.

He sighed turning his phone off before walking back into Leblanc. 

“No response.” 

“I see. Well thank you for trying.” 

Everyone sat there in silence, except for Futaba who was whispering something to Yusuke. 

“I see.” Yusuke said aloud 

“Not so loud! Stupid Inari!” Futaba leaped over the counter to cover his mouth 

Ren walked over to them and asked what was going on. Futaba whispered to him what was going on and he couldn’t help but crack a smile. 

“Alright. It turns out Ryuji has been helping Ann take her bags to the airport.” Ren announced 

Everyone let out a sigh of relief, while Futaba gave Ren a thumbs up for his quick thinking. 

Ryuji’s chat:

We’ll meet you at the airport. 😉

I told them you were helping Ann with her bags.

They took the train over to the airport crammed within the small train cars. Although it wasn’t rush hour there wasn’t much space for them, so they stood waiting for their exit. They exited a few blocks away from the airport and they made their way over there. They saw Ryuji sitting down half asleep so Ren quickly woke him up. 

“What’s up guys!” Ryuji exclaimed

“Couldn’t you have sent us a text?” Makoto reprimanded  

“Sorry about that. It must have slipped my mind.” Ryuji nervously scratched his neck

Makoto sighed and they all sat around him. They asked Ryuji where Ann was and he replied the restroom. They waited for a bit until Ann arrived.They were excited to see her and they were beginning to have a lively time. Although Ann’s plane wasn’t for another hour, the happy mood started to die down. Ann’s departure was finally weighing on everyone. It was gradual at first but as the time ticked down, all the conversations began to slow down. When there was only 15 minutes left until the plane arrived Ann stood up. 

“It’s been a fun last year.” Ann began, tears welling up in her eyes, “I want you all to know that I’m going to miss all of you… I’m sorry, I didn’t know it would be so hard to say goodbye. But I’ll make sure to call, text, and everything in between.”

Ann began to cry and everyone followed her example save for Ren and Yusuke. They were sad, who wouldn’t be but Yusuke had his own take of the situation. He was happy that she was doing what she really wanted and pursuing her dreams in America, while Ren just kept a simple smile. Ann hugged everyone, but before she walked to her plane she hugged Ryuji tightly before pulling him into a passionate kiss. 

“Thank you.” Ann whispered burying her face into his chest

“N-no pr-problem.” -Ryuji

They had a giant group hug before she headed to her plane. They watched as her plane flew out of the airport. It was sad to see their friend leave even more so for a girlfriend to leave, but Ryuji wasn’t crying, he was smiling. He knew how much it meant for Ann to finally visit America, and he was happy for her. Why wouldn’t he? He’s proud about her decision. Everyone looked at Ryuji and realized that. Their spirits began to lift. Although Ann departure would leave a gap in their friend group, it was nice to see everyone together for once before separating again. Not long after Ann’s plane was out of sight the Phantom Thieves separated, Sumire excused herself to head to practice, Haru a business meeting to attend to, Makoto had to go grocery shopping, Yusuke headed back to his dorm to finish a painting, Futaba had a coding project to get through, and Ren stayed with Ryuji. It was sad to see Ann go, but what good would come from standing around moping? 

“I’ll see you later!” Ryuji exclaimed

“See ya!” replied Ren

Ryuji walked out of the airport and headed off to who knows where. Ren headed over to Sumire’s practice before to spend more time with her before he made the trip back to Inaba. 

Chapter Text

August 11th, 2017

Ren mixed in equal parts butter and flour to make a roux. Tonight’s dinner was going to be Leblanc curry. It was the same recipe that Sojiro gave him, no modifications today. It was a peaceful evening, sun setting in the horizon painting the sky a light shade of orange, with pink clouds littering the skyline, the only noise that could be heard was the sound of the roux simmering and the droning that came from the Tv which was always broadcasting the news. 

“Here’s the weather forecast for the week! As you can see this week, Inaba is going to be sunny, but the temperature is dropping, so be prepared!” 

“Seems like a fun week, right Morgana?” Ren turned to face the living room, making sure to still stir the roux

“Of course. Perfect week to take some strolls.” Morgana replied intermittently cleaning himself

Ren put his focus back into the roux, stirring in between cutting some vegetables to make the sauce, when he felt a buzz from his pocket.

Yusuke’s Chat:

Good Evening Ren. I have urgent news to discuss with you. 
I do believe this is a matter best discussed in person. 
So I have spent the last of my weekly stipend to visit you.
I will arrive at 8 am tomorrow. 
-Yusuke Kitagawa

Ren read over the message again. It was difficult to figure out when Yusuke was being serious, even more so over text. Once when he was distressed, Futaba asked about his issue and he responded with, “I have run out of Carmine red,”. A very Yusuke issue to be frank. Even so, Ren decided to err on the side of caution and began to mentally prepare himself.

“Morgana, you might want to cancel your plans for a stroll tomorrow.” 

“Why’s that? The weather is perfect.” 

“Just a hunch.” 

Morgana scoffed at Ren, while Ren was worried about upscaling the recipe to give some extra to Yusuke after his trip, but at the very least Aiya would be running a promotion tomorrow and he could keep him fed. Ren still made extra curry and put the leftovers in a container to hand to Yusuke tomorrow. 
_____
Ren called it. It was indeed raining. 

Although it was a joke that Yusuke brought rain everywhere he went, the assumption held true on multiple occasions. During the firework festival it rained, all the times he was on stand-by in Leblanc during Futaba’s Palace, and on his school trip. In fact the assumption was confirmed when he first awakened his persona, Kamu Susano-o, the God of storms, seas and fields. The Phantom Thieves all had different reactions to the rain, Ann and Morgana absolutely hated the rain he brought, Futaba enjoyed the rain as it gave her a reason to stay indoors, and everyone else just thought that rain was mildly inconvenient. 

“Ugh why is it raining? The weatherman said it was going to be sunny!” Morgana whined looking out through the window

“We have a visit from a friend of ours.” Ren smirked

“It’s Yusuke, isn’t it.” 

Ren stayed silent, but smiled. Morgana made an attempt to scowl in his feline body, but walked away and headed into the room. Ren walked from his house to the southern shopping district, the light tapping of rain coupled with the sound of his footsteps were the only sounds that could be heard aside from the occasional engine of a car. The wait for the bus was just as quiet, while the ride to the train station was dull. The only thing of interest was his art book. The wait for the train was just as uneventful, as Ren had a habit of being too damn early, so he continued to read the art book with the sound of the ever increasing intensity of the rain as background noise. Ren heard the train horn in the distance but he ignored the noise trying to find a good stopping point in the book. 

“Good morning Ren.” Yusuke said in the midst of a bow, his voice coming from below the book

“Good morning to you as well.” Ren bowed in response

Ren looked at his phone for the bus schedule, only a minute until arrival.

“Let’s go, the bus is about to arrive. It would be best if we don’t spend our time here.” 

“Very well.” 

They looked for a bus in the parking lot through the ever increasing rain, only having to wait a couple seconds before the bus arrived. Yusuke walked into the bus, paying his fee quickly and sitting at the end of the bus. Ren paused, looking at Yusuke in the back, before paying his fare. They sat in an awkward silence. For once in his life, Yusuke was hesitant. The straightforward speaker, who in any situation always had something to say, even when turned into a mouse, he could effortlessly deliver a pun. Yet currently he was unable to say anything, instead fiddling with his clothes and hands unable to find any words. The silence continued for a few minutes. It was a rarity to see this hidden side of Yusuke, the last time he saw this side was when he was lost in his journey to become an artist.

“I… have been named the sole inheritor of Madarame’s estate.” Yusuke started, breaking the silence, “...He died the day Ann had left… I was only informed of the event the next morning.” 

“...” 

“His death won’t be made public just yet. They want me to decide what to do with his estate. . Normally I would be given a few months to decide whether or not to accept or refuse, but due to Madarame being a celebrity and because his estate is worth far too much to reliably keep safe, I only have until the end of August.” 

“This seems like a very important decision, so why are you asking me?” 

“Because you are Theo. I have already asked Makoto and Haru for insight. In the end they both told me to keep it, each for different reasons, but mainly for my physical well being. I have also asked Sojiro as well as Futaba for help. Sojiro gave me wonderful advice, while Futaba gave me some… unique advice, but both of them helped me deal with it mentally, but I had to ask you. I suppose I am still on the fence. I looked up to Madarame as not just my sensei but as a father figure, regardless, I don’t want to accept a fortune that was created from thievery and abuse.”

Legendary artist Madarame, turned counterfeiter, had left a massive fortune and with no biological child, the fortune was left to his only student. With the help of Haru to create a proper budget and investments, Yusuke could live a life of leisure without having to lift a finger.

“You should accept it Yusuke.” 

“Pray tell?” 

“Knowing Sojiro and Futaba they probably said something similar to what I’m about to say. Just because you accept his fortune does not mean that you take responsibility for his actions. You are not Madarame and you will not turn out to be like him. You will always be Yusuke. So accept the estate and spend it how you wish. Madarame built his fortune on lies and abuse, but what you do with it is what truly matters and later you can build your own fortune.” 

“I believe that is all I needed to hear. Sojiro and Futaba both said something similar. Sojiro was able to eloquently explain it to me while Futaba explained it in a tad vulgar way.” 

“That seems like Futaba.” 

“Indeed. But she handled it with quite a bit of maturity.” Yusuke’s initially tense demeanor was replaced with a smile

“It’s nice to hear how Futaba is maturing.” 

“Indeed, she has truly stepped out of her comfort zone. Just last week she accompanied me to an art exhibit.” 

Yusuke continued to list various instances of outings they had. These outings were eerily similar to dates, but Ren did not want to pry into Yusuke’s life, well more than he already had. Yusuke continued to list more of their outings even after the bus rolled into the Southern Shopping DIstrict across from the gas station. Under their umbrellas they walked together towards the Northern part of the shopping district. Yusuke marveled at Daidara Metalworks lamenting his inability to visit today, settling by making a mental note to visit the next time he was in Inaba. 

“Welcome, Ren! I see you brought a friend. Are you up for the challenge today?” Nakamura, the owner of Aiya enthusiastically greeted, cutting and seasoning beef at an outstanding rate 

“Not today. I’ll settle for a regular beef bowl, but my friend here will be taking on the challenge.” Ren replied pulling out two seats in front of the counter

“Very well!” 

A few minutes later the owner brought out both of their items. The sheer size difference between their items was evident. Yusuke’s eyes bulged at the sight of his bowl, not out of fear but from delight. Yusuke began to shovel the food into his mouth quickly and the mountain of meat that once seemed insurmountable began to disappear exposing the rice below. The owner looked at Yusuke in what could only be described as abject horror. Yusuke only stopped moving his chopsticks when he picked every single piece of meat and every single grain of rice clean from the bowl. 

“Thank you, that was quite a filling meal.” Yusuke commented politely, unaware of the look the owner gave him

Ren was quietly eating his food while the owner stood mouth agape. 

“...That was the quickest I’ve seen someone finish our challenge.” 

“That’s not too surprising, he holds the 2nd fastest time in the Big Bang Burger Challenge.” 

“...I-I see.” 

Ren finished his beef bowl and he paid his fee, with Yusuke already having paid his fee. It seems like Yusuke was quick when it came to paying his own tab. Yusuke again began to fiddle with his fingers, looking down solemnly. 

“What’s up Yusuke?” 

“I want your blessing.” 

“Hmm!? 

“I want your blessing” 

“I heard you the first time!” Ren exclaimed exasperated, grabbing napkins to clean the water he spit out at Yusuke’s earlier comment

“So is that a no?” Yusuke tentatively asked

“NO! Wait, slow down!” 

“Very well.” 

Ren cleaned his area up, apologizing to Nakamura for the mess. 

“Blessing for what?” Ren asked after finally regaining his composure

“I want your blessing to date Futaba.” Yusuke replied curtly

“So why me and not Sojiro?” 

“Ah. Therein lies the problem. Boss kicked me out of Leblanc when I asked him. It seems it was quite a touchy subject for him.” 

“And when was that?” 

“Yesterday. It was a contributing factor for today’s arrival, but had he not kicked me out I still would have visited you today.” 

“Yikes, but I give you my blessing to date Futaba.” 

“Thank you. Now I need to get Sojiro’s blessing.” 

“Before you get his blessing, how do you plan on confessing to her?” 

“Simple. I intend to dedicate a painting to her and only then can I confess my feelings to her.” 

“Can I see the painting?” 

“I have yet to start on the painting. I was hoping to start on it yesterday when Sojiro gave me his blessing, alas you know how that went.” 

The gesture Yusuke described was tamer than expected but knowing Yusuke that was a positive. 

“Please just keep the confession to that. Nothing extra please.” Ren pleaded 

“Very well.” 

The rain outside settled down and the clouds began to lighten up. They said their thanks to the owner and headed outside. Ren offered a tour of his house but Yusuke declined, citing that he needed to start working on his painting as well as working for Sojiro’s blessing. Ren obliged and escorted Yusuke to the train station where they said goodbye. The rain had finally cleared up, with the sun shining high in the sky, just like the weather man initially predicted. Ren made it back home and placed his umbrella near the entrance. 

“The weather has cleared up. Are you up to go on a walk?” 

“Not anymore. The ground’s wet and I don’t want to ruin my fur.” 

Ren snickered, for someone who was not a cat he sure acted like one. He opened the fridge looking for a water bottle only to be met with a note that read, “Give to Yusuke”. The extra curry he was supposed to give to Yusuke was still sitting in his fridge in the pre-portioned container. There was nothing he could do about it so that meant curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner if he meant to finish it before it went to waste. After eating some curry Ren felt bloated and took a nap on the couch, with Morgana resting on top of him.

Ren woke up In the evening to his phone blaring. Futaba was pestering Ren to play videogames. Ren relented and put on his headset when he entered his room. When Futaba joined the call, over the mic he could hear Yusuke in the background making idle chit chat to Futaba who diverted every possible second of her time to talk and occasionally bully him. 

I’m surprised Sojiro allowed this. Ren thought, allowing a smile to paint his face as he destroyed random kids on Roblox with Futaba who spent time with her future boyfriend. 

Chapter Text

August 20th 2017

It was a nice summer afternoon, Ren was in his white shirt and sweats talking to someone on the phone. Morgana was very insistent on joining the conversation, pawing at Ren’s legs and scratching his arms when Morgana got the chance. Ren winced and whispered to Morgana. 

“Give me a second.” Ren whispered, scratching Morgana’s chin 

Usually this move would have elicited a pur, but Morgana was growing impatient and bit his hand. Ann snickered at Ren’s undignified yelp. She had finished work a while ago and had already called Ryuji earlier. After Ren’s conversation had finally finished he handed over the phone to Morgana to allow him to talk. He left them alone as he ventured into the kitchen for a snack. He washed his wounded hand before grabbing a yogurt cup for himself and a small minnow he had caught earlier in the week. 

He walked up the stairs eating the yogurt with a plastic spoon. The minnow was in a small plastic container in his pocket. He sat down at his desk checking any notifications on his computer. Nothing new except for an email from Makoto

“Hello Ren, would it be ok for me to visit tomorrow?”

He replied with a quick confirmation and just as quickly received a thanks. It was time to prepare for another visit. It was nice to have friends visit him, although the last time he had a visitor it was Yusuke who visited to confess his love for Futaba and ask for permission to date her, hopefully this visit will not be like the last one. He watched as he got a notification from none other than his pseudo-sister, demanding him to play Splatoon 2. He relented and got on. He put his headset on to call Futaba on Discord and he could hear Yusuke on the other end, asking to draw Futaba’s inkling. It seemed that Yusuke and Futaba’s relationship had remained stagnant, but Ren stayed silent about Yusuke’s visit and just played Splatoon while Morgana spoke to Ann in the background. 

When it got dark, Ann left to do homework, Morgana was eating the minnow, and Futaba was yelling at Ren to paint the ground and “Move your ass! Joker was not this slow!”. As much as he enjoyed playing video games with Futaba she could get a little dramatic. 

“Alright Futaba. I’m going to sleep.” Ren yawned

“Alright, but we’re getting on again tomorrow.” Futaba exclaimed

“I’ll talk to you again, Ren.” Yusuke added

Ren left the call and went through his nightly routine preparing for Makoto’s visit tomorrow.

August 21st 2017

Ren woke up, changed out of his shirt and sweats, and made breakfast. Morgana had decided to sleep in today so there was no chance of him joining Ren in picking up Makoto. Ren boarded the bus and was still reading the art book Yusuke had gifted him. He was almost done with it, but it took a lot longer than he expected. It might have been due to the paper used for the book, being the same height as most books but the length of the paper was close to triple the same books. He waited at the train station and as the train’s horn blared and it rolled into the station, Makoto popped out of one of the cabin cars. 

“Welcome to Inaba.” Ren exclaimed, arms spread around him showcasing the station behind him, “Where literally nothing happens. Except for that one time, but we here try to forget about it.” 

“It’s nice to see you again.” Makoto flashed a smile

“Same here… So what brings you here on this fine day.” 

“Nothing much. I just wanted to get out of the city. Inokashira park is a nice place to unwind but it’s too close to the city.” 

“Well you’ve come to the right place! The closest thing we have to the city is Junes.” 

Makoto and Ren boarded a bus to make their way to the shopping district. They walked from the southern portion of the district, with Makoto making notes of where she wanted to come back later. 

“What’s the most laid back thing you can do around here?” Makoto asked

“Live here.” Ren replied deadpanned

“Be serious.” 

“Fishing.” 

“Then let’s go!”

They walked over to Ren’s house and he walked into the shed to get the fishing rods. He checked up on Morgana who had already left, so they made their way to the Samegawa Flood Plain. As they cast their lines and waited for any fish to bite, it reminded Ren of when Ryuji visited a while ago. When Makoto casted her line her shoulders tensed up, but after she heard the splash of her bob she seemed a lot more relaxed. 

“So how’s college treating you?” Ren asked

“It’s been stressful to say the least.”  Makoto sighed, “College is far more difficult than high school, it’s been taking a lot more of my time, but I can still find time to train myself. Also I recently found a police station that seems like a good fit for me. The commissioner shares a lot of my values and has been working to make their area a better place.”

“Really?” 

“Yes. The commissioner is someone named Akihiko Sanada and the second in command is a woman named Chie Satonaka. They’re not that much older than us, but they are just as chaotic as all of us.”

“I’ve heard of Chie Satonaka! She was an alumna of my highschool.” 

“That’s interesting! She’s quite a handful from what little time I’ve had with her… although the same can be said about Sanada-san.” 

“Seems like you’re going to have your hands full, like with the Phantom Thieves.” 

“Don’t remind me. I can’t believe how disorganized you guys were before I joined. Even after I joined it didn’t get much better.” Makoto sighed, her red downcast eyes stared into the flowing crystalline river

“It definitely got much better. You just didn’t notice it because you learned with us. When you joined we only changed the hearts of 2 other people. We were teenagers playing Batman. You were a great help in helping us get more organized and professional if you could even call it that. You were instrumental in helping us improve. I know that you’ll do good at that police precinct.” 

“Thank you for that.” 

“No problem.” 

Makoto’s fishing rod began to shake violently, signaling that a fish had taken the bait. Now all that was left to do was instruct her on how to reel one in. 

“Maintain the tension in the rod!” Ren yelled, his once solemn tone changed into a frantic and demanding voice

“Like this?!” Makoto exclaimed

“No! Keep the rod bent! Let it absorb the force of the fish! Become a fisherwoman!” 

Makoto quickly reeled in the fish, her left palm becoming white from the pressure she began holding the fishing rod with while her right hand got lost in the rotating motion of the spinning reel.

“No! Slow down!” 

“What!?!” 

“Become the fishing rod!”

“I thought you said to become the fisherwoman?”

“No! BECOME THE FISH!!”

A couple more seconds of Ren screaming and Makoto freaking out passed before Makoto successfully reeled in the fish. 

“Remind me to never go fishing with you ever again.” Makoto complained in between short breaths

“Noted.” 

Ren sat down on the rock overlooking the river floodplain laughing at what had transpired. Makoto had enough of fishing, she tossed the fish into a bucket and forced Ren to carry the fish back to his house to feed Morgana. 

“Morgana! We brought home some fish!” Ren exclaimed from the entrance and looked at Makoto, “I’ll go put the fishing rods away. Can you feed Morgana the fish?” 

“Ok.”

Ren walked into the backyard and into the shed fumbling with the fishing rods. It was easy enough to take them out, but returning them to their rightful location was a painful endeavor.  Morgana swiftly descended the stairs, his paws making no noise.

“Hello Morgana.” Makoto scratched Morgana behind his ears

“Hi Makoto!” Morgana dipped his head into the bucket, beginning to eat the fish

“How’s Inaba treating you?” Makoto asked

“There’s no good sushi spot!” Morgana whined in between mouthfuls of fish, “The only place that sells sushi is Junes and even then it isn’t as good as in Tokyo. At least I have the fish from the river.” 

“So the sushi I’ve made means nothing to you?” Ren walked in from the back door, his voice quivering and wistful tears in his eyes “And I thought we had something special.”

“Ren! That’s not what I meant.” 

“No… Throw me to the wayside like a piece of trash.” his arm extended over his eyes

Makoto looked at them with a strange look. She rubbed her temples watching whatever it was unfolding in front of her. Morgana continued to plead his case while Ren did not want to listen to it. 

After that little bit of drama, Makoto and Ren leave for the shopping district for one final visit before Makoto leaves. They walked back into the shopping district, this time to the northern part of the district, specifically Tatsuhime Shrine. She walked up to the shrine and began to pray Ren followed suit. Makoto prayed for the well being of her sister as well as her father while Ren prayed for Sumire’s success and the safety of his friends. It was a nice quiet moment with no cars around or screaming to worry about. 

Before leaving the shrine Makoto and Ren drew their fortune from the box. Makoto received great luck, while Ren drew bad luck, presumably karma for what he put Makoto through. When they reached the southern part of the shopping district they took a bus back to the train station. 

“Thank you for today.” Makoto bowed

“No problem. You’re always welcome to come back and fish.” Ren proposed

“I’d rather not.” 

“Suit yourself.”

Makoto boards the train waving goodbye. Ren waves back before finding his way back home where he made the final bowl of leftover curry. What was supposed to be Yusuke’s meals for a couple days turned out to be Ren’s life for the past couple days. Most of it was frozen to make sure it didn’t spoil, but multiple containers of curry took up all the real estate in both the fridge and freezer. His parents were not happy. When they finally had the time to visit they complained about the fridge and freezer space it took up. They didn’t even bother to try some. They visited for a day and proceeded to leave the same night, leaving Ren to eat the entirety of the curry alone.

“Ren!! Get on Splatoon. We’re grinding ranked again!” Futaba texted him

Now is not the time to wallow in self pity, it's time to wallow in paint. He hopped on Splatoon 2 with Futaba, but he seemed to be doing worse than yesterday. Now he was the one being yelled at. It seems that the rest of today was not going to be in Ren’s favor.

Chapter Text

September 2, 2017

Ren walked around the shopping district, a meat skewer in his left and a fish skewer in his right, a new addition to the stand. He dropped the fish skewer into his bag where Morgana quickly began to chew on the fish. He had just got out of school and sat under a tree at the shrine. It had become a nice place to rest, from the craziness of everything, but he was interrupted by a message.

Futaba’s Chat:

Heyo! I need some help! I’ll be visiting you tomorrow. 

Ren read the message and put his phone away. Futaba could always be dramatic so he paid this no mind. It was probably nothing to worry about. He continued to eat his meat skewer under the shade with Morgana purring on his chest, satisfied with his meal. 

September 3, 2017

Ren woke up and got ready to pick up his pseudo-sister from the train station. It had been a little more than a year since the Phantom Thieves had changed her heart, but it made Ren proud to see that she made such a long journey to visit by herself. He grabbed his bag and Morgana jumped in. They made their way from the bus stop to the station where Ren had finally finished the art book Yusuke had given him when he first left Shibuya. Just like all the other times it seems like he was early. He waited patiently, but skimmed over the message that Futaba had sent him yesterday. It could mean anything really. It could mean she needed help fixing something or she needed his advice for something, but she could do that over text or call, so why is she coming all the way out here?

His train of thought was interrupted by the literal train blaring its horn knocking Ren out of his thoughts. He stood up and waited near the train door to see his sister when he saw a tall, lanky boy stumble out of the door. His body was quite thin for his stature, but his hair was the strangest part about him, a deep oceanic blue. It was Yusuke.

“Inari! I know you get motion sick, but move it!” Futaba’s signature voice was heard, with her hair showing up behind Yusuke

She effortlessly pushed Yusuke to the wayside despite their size difference. He stumbled away, channeling his momentum into a pirouette, before striking an all too familiar pose. Ren smiled, carefully set his bag down and replicated the pose, much to Futaba’s chagrin. 

“Cut it out you two!” she whined

“I see you have not lost your touch-” Yusuke covered his mouth before frantically running away

“What’s wrong with him? Last time he was fine.”  

“He didn’t get to sleep on the way over here.”  

“So what did you need my help with?” 

“School trip, but not now! We have to wait for the perfect time. Now… Where’s Morgana?” 

She found Morgana in Ren’s bag and began to play with his soft cheeks. Morgana began to protest, but his cat body betrayed him as he let out a loud purr. Morgana jumped out of the bag and onto Ren’s head. Futaba jumped up to try and reach him but failed to do so. Yusuke walked back looking paler than ever, but he managed a small wave at Morgana. 

“At least someone knows how to greet me!” 

“Oh come on!” 

“We’re going to be stuck here if we don’t hurry up.” 

They walked over to the bus stop and all prayed that Yusuke would not throw up his breakfast or possibly yesterday's lunch. They made it into the shopping district, where Morgana quickly darted out of Ren’s bag. Futaba called him a meanie, Ren sighed, and Yusuke was sitting on the ground trying to get his bearings. 

“Here you go!” Futaba handed Yusuke a large sum of money, far more than any regular high schooler should reasonably have, excluding Ren and Haru.

“I am in your debt!” Yusuke weakly 

“Yeah yeah. Don’t go spending it all in one place.” 

Yusuke slowly got up and walked away from the shopping district. 

“Are you sure he’s fine alone?” 

“Don’t worry. I have a tracker on him just in case.” 

“A school trip shouldn’t be too difficult for you. So what’s the real reason for today’s visit?” Ren asked with a sly, mischievous smile

“I need your help to confess my feelings for Yuske.” Futaba frantically blurted out, “We’re having a school trip soon and I want to confess to him, but I don’t know how to!” 

“And I’m the person to ask, because…” 

“Sumi is busy with gymnastics, Ann is in America and is relentless, Makoto is too stiff, Haru is borderline sadistic, Ryuji is well Ryuji, Morgana is a cat, and obviously I can’t ask Yusuke.” 

“And you think I have good relationship advice?” 

“Obviously. Mr Joker, Mr I got a girlfriend. Help me out!” 

“Haha” Ren said with sarcastic laughter, “Sumi actually confessed to me so, I’m not the one you should be asking.” 

“Yeah, but she’s busy! I just told you that!”

“Really?” 

Ren pulled out his cell phone and dialed his girlfriend. 

“Hello Senpai?” a soft, quiet voice escaped the phone, Sumi

“Hi there Sumi! Are you busy right now?” Ren replied matching her volume

“Not really. Sunday’s are when I take it easy.” 

“See?” Ren mouthed to Futaba, “I’m here with Futaba and she wanted to ask for some help.” 

Futaba shook her head and waved her hands, but Ren pushed the phone next to her. 

“Heyyyyy…” Futaba awkwardly answered

“Hello! What did you want to ask?” Sumire’s voice had began to liven

“Nothing! Ren’s just being a dork right now. Look he’ll tell you.” Futaba shoved the phone back into Ren’s hands

“Sorry about that.” he pulled the phone back into his shoulder, “She’s being a little fussy. I’ll make sure to talk to you later though.” 

“Ok Senpai!” 

“You suck. You know that, right?” 

“Duly noted.” 

“So are you going to help me or not?” 

“There’s not much to help you with. You like him, so just tell him.” 

“I’m not doing it unless I’m 100% confident he likes me back.” 

Ren wanted so desperately to tell her that Yusuke already liked her, far more than she might ever know, but Yusuke wanted to make it special. He couldn’t just spoil the surprise. 

“What’s the worst that can happen?” 

“He says no, he stops being my friend, and I just lost the person closest to me.” Futaba quietly replied

“Not me?” Ren let out a fake gasp, placing his hand on his chest pretending to be offended

“Distant third.” 

“I’m sure Boss would love to hear he’s second.” 

“You say anything to him and I move you down to fourth, maybe 5th.”

“Duly noted, but in all seriousness do you really think he would stop being friends with you? He’s seen the darkest aspect of you and he’s still friends with you. I doubt this would be any worse.” 

“Yeah, but…” 

“He literally got motion sick to bring you here. He’s done quite a bit for you. I doubt anything could ruin your friendship.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yeah… well maybe one thing.” 

“What is it?” 

“If he says yes then it isn’t a friendship anymore it’s a relationship.” 

“I hate you.” 

“So how do you plan to confess? Are you going to hack into his phone and ask him out?” 

“No! That’s dumb and weird.” 

“So what do you plan to do?” 

“I don’t know. I want to confess to him during our school trip, but I think it’s weird.” 

“I think it’s romantic. Maybe I should stowaway with Sumire.” 

“Eww. Don’t ruin this for me.” 

“Wait, is Ryuji going?” 

“Yeah. It’s a trip between Kosei and Shujin. Apparently it went well last year so they decided to partner up officially this time.” 

“Huh. Does Ann know about this?”

“Nah. Ryuji wants to keep it a secret.” 

Ren pulled out his phone and dialed Ryuji. 

“Hello?” Ryuji groggily asked, it seemed he had just woken up

 “Go get em tiger!” Ren exclaimed before quickly hanging up and quickly pivoting to his conversation with Futaba, “Are you still having doubts about confessing to Yusuke?”

“Not anymore. I’m just a little nervous. I just want him to say yes.” 

“That’s good to hear. On a related note, where is he right now?” 

“Uhm, let’s see.” Futaba opened her phone to find Yusuke, “Seems like he’s still shopping.” 

“You want to go get some food before we go get him?” 

“Sure!” 

They walked over to Aiya Diner to eat something and allow Yusuke to look around and find something to do. They grabbed some food and they sat and talked about different things they have been enjoying. 

When Ren paid their tab they walked out of the diner and found Yusuke standing outside of the diner. 

“Ah it seems you two have finally arrived! I have so much to tell you two.” Yusuke proudly exclaimed, carrying multiple bags with each carrying distinctly different items

“It’s a lot.” Morgana sighed

Yusuke then explained his adventure. He walked over to Ren’s house and picked up Morgana for a small adventure. They first visited Daidara’s smithy where he learned about various different weapons. After that they visited the shrine where he met an orange, slender and sleek, fox with sharp eyes and tested if foxes truly liked inari sushi after leaving Morgana with the fox. Finally their trip to Tatsumi Textiles. A nice textile shop with a lovely couple running the store, the owner was well versed in how each textile worked and their uses even demonstrating them for Yusuke.

“I think the owner and his wife are persona users.” Yusuke quickly added

“Sure and I’m six feet tall.” Futaba quipped

“No, Yusuke’s right. They were able to hear me speak.” Morgana added

“That’s interesting. What will you do about it?” Ren asked

“Nothing, but I will be talking to the owner online. Our interests align quite well and it would help me explore a new form of art!” 

“Yeah yeah. Tone it down Inari.” 

They walked to the shrine where Futaba and Yusuke looked for the fox again, but no luck. Luckily Yusuke had sketched the fox in great detail, even adding color. Ren quickly looked at the sketch and at both Futaba and Yusuke. The fox looked like their fox child, but he kept it to himself

___

In the evening after a long call with Sumire, Ren received a message. 

Futaba’s Chat:

Inari just gave me a small little fox charm. Why is he so cute! 

.Just kiss him already

He smiled and turned off his phone, content with listening to his phone furiously vibrate. 

Chapter Text

September 12 2017

For the past couple of days Ren had spent most of his free time on phone calls with his friends who were currently in Los Angeles. The calls were the highlights of his day, if only it wasn’t for the time difference. Ren wondered how Ryuji was able to consistently talk with Ann even with the seventeen hour time difference and his inability to wake up on time. Either way it was still an exciting time to talk with them. He was shown around Los Angeles with Yusuke providing an excellent view of their surroundings hoisting him up in the air. It was eventful even if he could only experience Los Angeles for a few moments at a time. Although he was able to catch Yusuke’s confession to Futaba. He watched from Ryuji’s phone camera a scene straight out of a movie. At sunset at the beach, Yusuke got on one knee, displacing a small cavern of sand and began to profess his love for Futaba, although it seemed more like a proposal than a simple love confession. He could hear Ann begin to snicker and Ryuji was shaking with excitement for his bro, but while they were having fun it must have been mortifying for Futaba. Ren could barely hear any of the words Yusuke said, but Ryuji zoomed in so he could see Futaba’s face redden with every second that passed. He could hear Ryuji stifle his words, with all of them replaced by giddy chuckling and sharp breaths. Ren thought about what he should say to Yusuke to congratulate him for his courage and respect for Futaba, but it lasted about three seconds until he saw Yusuke kiss Futaba, well it was the other way around as everyone present confirmed, but Ren wanted to strike him down where he stood. He let out a few choice words which were lost after Ryuji muted him to go congratulate his friend. 

That had happened just a couple days ago and they had returned just two days ago. Ren was preparing an impromptu trip to Shibuya the upcoming Sunday, but until then he had to be satisfied by throwing poorly veiled threats to Yusuke. Ren sat at the dinner table waiting for his coffee to finish brewing. The beans he used were from none other than Haru. Her magnanimous nature led to a gift of coffee beans that he had just prepared in accordance with Sojiro's teachings. A nice rich and full aroma that paired well with the curry he had made was also in accordance with Sojiro's teachings. He circled the coffee in the mug as he ate spoonfuls of his curry. Ren savored each bite listening to the newscaster talk about the local happenings and the happy noises that Morgana made when eating sushi. His phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the message he had just received. 

Haru’s Chat:

“Are you free to talk tomorrow?” 

“Yeah. I just have to get through the school day first”

“Splendid!” 

With that he had his plans for tomorrow. It was definitely better than ruminating over what Yusuke did. He put away his phone, the words of Sojiro playing in his head. 

September 13 2017

He woke up and hurried over to Yasogami High and waited for the final bell in order to do something interesting. As soon as the final bell rang he walked back home to drop off his bag and school supplies, but as he approached his house he saw Haru diligently waiting outside for him. 

“Welcome to my humble abode.” Ren slid the door open and motioned for Haru to enter

“Thank you for the warm invitation.” Haru giggled

He led Haru inside the house. He readied up a plate of curry and a nice cup of coffee just like Sojiro would do for them all. He sat down with his own plate and cup enjoying a nice moment between the two of them. When they finished their food he grabbed their plates and put them in the sink and refilled their cups. 

“Thank you for the meal.” 

“The least I can do for a guest of mine.” 

“My my, quite the host. I see where you get your hospitality. Now tell me, how has Inaba been treating you?” 

“It’s good here, although a year ago not so much. But things have truly changed here or it was the change of the people, not the town.” 

“That’s wonderful to hear. I was thinking about opening up a coffee shop in Inaba, with what I’ve been seeing it’s not that bad of a decision.” 

“That may be true but not many people here actually drink coffee or want to splurge on the good kind. Most are content with instant coffee. Plus the last time a new business set shop here there were many people against it, but it might have been due to the nature of Junes taking up many roles in the town. ” 

“That may be so, but I have a plan to make sure to not alienate the residents. Additionally I know I can count on you for help.” Haru gleefully said, but her voice was in stark contrast with her grim dark smile that never failed to strike fear in anyone who saw it 

“totally…” Ren replied halfheartedly, while he would always help a friend he didn’t know if this was a request or a demand and he was not willing to find out

“Splendid!” she replied as if she did not just threaten to murder Ren with her smile, but that same smile faded, her face became solemn and serious. 

“But that’s not the only reason why I wanted to come visit you. There’s something else I’ve been meaning to share” 

“What is it?” 

“The main reason I came here was because I wanted to inform you that… Akechi is alive.” 

Ren’s eyes widened. Akechi’s whereabouts and status had been unknown after the battle with Maruki, Ren thought he saw Akechi before his train ride home, it was nothing but his mind playing tricks on him.. He wanted to ask Haru a bunch of questions, but he only had one question to ask.

“How did you find out?” 

“I was in my apartment late one day when I heard a knock on my door. I thought it might have been one of my associates, but it was Akechi. He looked quite ragged and I let him inside. He didn’t say much, but he lied on and fell asleep on the couch in my living room.” 

“Why did he ask you for help?”

“I don’t know, all he said was that he needed a place to stay. A place away from prying eyes.” 

“Do you know what he’s doing right now?” 

“He’s still in the apartment. He has been for quite a while. There’s not much a ‘dead man’ can do.” 

“How do you feel about all of this?” 

“I don’t know yet. I want to help him in his time of need, but that part of me wants to throw him out and watch him suffer.”

“That’s understandable. You are not obligated to help him. You have every right in the world to feel this way.” 

“I know, but it eats at me and I want it to stop. I’m afraid of what Futaba would think about me knowing that I’ve been helping him of all people.” 

“She would understand. Futaba’s a strong girl even if she hasn’t forgiven him she would understand what you are doing.” 

“Thank you.”

So with that Haru began to go back to her normal happy self after sharing the weight of her struggles. Ren cleaned up the plates and walked around Inaba with her and began to explain each and every business that sat in the town, their importance and their history to help Haru understand what the town is about. With how Haru explained her plan, Ren finally began to open up to the idea of the coffee shop in Inaba, he understood that under Haru’s direction that it would be a nice addition to Inaba without causing the same stir as Junes did when it first arrived. Haru thanked Ren and she made her way back to the station by herself.

Ren on the other hand was quite occupied with the info he was just presented with, but he was also quite happy with the news. He was grateful to see that he had ended up relatively ok after the battle with Maruki. He thought about what had happened in the time after Maruki’s defeat but before he left for Inaba. It was a decently long stretch of time before he left and in that time there was nothing from Akechi, it led Ren to believe the worst. But none of that mattered anymore at the very least he was safe. It was late in the evening and as he sipped his coffee he received a message.

Haru’s Chat:

“Akechi has gone missing.” 

Ren turned his phone off and stared at the ceiling. 

“Fu-”

Chapter Text

September 13 2017

Ren paced around the lower floor of his house, worried about Akechi being missing. He pondered various scenarios to help find him, but he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a knock on the door. No one should be here at this time, but the knock repeated itself a few seconds later. He took slow steps towards the front door, once more the knock repeated itself with Ren pressed up against the door, feeling the vibration he slowly creaked the door open.

“Akechi?” Ren let out a surprised whisper as he saw a dead man. Akechi stood in silence outside on a cold summer night. 

“I’m here for one last talk. Is Morgana around?” Akechi asked

“He’s upstairs sleeping. Why?” 

“Good. Let’s go somewhere else.” Akechi studied Ren’s outfit, a short sleeve T-shirt, baggy sweatpants, and bright red slippers, “I’ll wait for you to get ready.” 

Ren walked up to his room and changed into a more suitable outfit. The rustling in the room caused Morgana to stir in his sleep, but he didn’t fully wake up. As Ren put on a thin sweater in the room he pulled out his phone and sent out a quick text. 

Haru’s Chat:

Akechi’s with me in Inaba.

Ren walked outside with Akechi in relative silence with the song of crickets as background noise. Ren led them to the empty shopping district. They walked out and sat on the steps of the long empty tofu shop, the shop’s lights had been off for several hours and any customer would have been long home by now. They sat on opposite ends of the stairs, away from each other under the light of the moon and the dim light of the nearby old lampposts. 

“What brings you here?” Ren asked

“To see the only other person who keeps me chained here.” Akechi coldly responded, "I want to move on.”

“And how do you plan to do that?” 

“I don’t know exactly right now, but it’s a lot easier said than done.” 

“Of course it is, but haven’t you already started the process?” 

“Not yet.” 

Ren didn’t know what to make of the response, Akechi seemed to be stuck in his ways even with Haru’s assistance. 

“And what’s stopping you?” 

Akechi pursed his lips, preparing to say something, but he remained silent, instead his eyes stared at the sky above. He slowly extended his arm up and pointed a finger to a cluster of stars in the sky.

“Andromeda.” 

“Huh?” 

“The chained maiden, sacrificed by her father, and rescued by a hero. Reminds you of someone doesn’t it?” Akechi explained, Ren nodded in understanding 

“In the myth she lived happily with the hero, but this isn’t a myth, is it? The actual maiden is happy as is. She has no need for the hero or anyone for that matter. So, why should he stay?” 

“Because she’s not happy and he can’t see it.” 

“And do tell, you can?” 

“I can… And so can you.” 

Akechi averted his gaze, his mind wandered to the voicemail he received earlier that day. His hand twitched as it reached into his pocket, but he retracted his hand before it could grab his phone. 

“Don’t give me that bullshit.” Akechi muttered

“I’m not. So tell me, what will you do when you move on?” 

“I’ll be able to live a normal life, one without the eyes on me.” 

“And to do that you would cut off the people who care about you?” 

“I said stop with the bullshit. Futaba hates me, the others barely tolerate me, and you’re the only one who seems to not be entirely perturbed around me.” 

“Not Haru.” Ren added

“Stop. Now.” Akechi muttered, “She doesn’t want me around. So, I left. There isn’t more to it than that.” 

“Are you sure this will make you happy?” 

“It’ll make the others happy.” 

“It won’t make Ha-” 

“What about Haru!” Akechi exclaimed, standing up with a scowl on his face. Ren watched as Akechi began to pace up and down the steps of the shop 

Ren wanted to say something, but since Akechi was in an agitated state, anything he could say was only going to make things worse. Ren waited for Akechi to sit back down and regain his composure.

“So what now?” Ren asked, staring at the streetlamp on the other side of the street

“I wanted to thank you for keeping your promise. You can relay the thanks to Haru as well. But what I was here for…” Akechi paused, the words getting caught in his throat, “Thank you for being my rival.” 

Ren said nothing as they sat outside of the tofu shop, only giving him a subtle nod. 

“Let me treat you to some coffee before you leave.” Ren offered as he rose to his feet, stretching his legs 

“I would appreciate it.” Akechi calmly replied 

Akechi began to walk to Ren’s home, walking in front of Ren in complete silence. When they reached Ren’s house, Akechi sat at the kitchen table while Ren prepared the coffee beans Haru had given him. Akechi watched the news broadcast, soaking in the information and noticed a sweet scent enveloping the kitchen a few minutes into watching the broadcast. 

“Thank you.” Akechi said, lifting his cup up

Ren nodded as he took a sip from his own cup of coffee. They both drank their coffee in silence. When they finished their cups of coffee Akechi began to speak.

“There’s one last thing I wanted to do.” 

Akechi walked outside and Ren followed. They made their way back to the shopping district, walking further than before, past the tofu place, the pub, and the meat skewer stand. Akechi had his sights set on the large red torii gate. They walked in and walked over to the shrine where Akechi dropped some coins into the saisen box, clapped his hands, and rang the bell before beginning to pray. Not for him, but for Haru, Ren, and all the people he had wronged. He wasn’t religious, but it wasn’t about there being a God or not, but he hoped it would count for something. It was help from someone greater and more than he was. After finishing his prayer, Akechi walked over to the fortune box and thought about Haru as he grabbed a fortune. 

He unraveled the fortune and it read, “You will have a chance encounter in the near future.” Akechi scoffed, but slipped the fortune into his pocket. 

“I’ll be going now.” 

Akechi began to walk out of the shrine, his eyes staring at the sky, a small smile on his face. He could hear the soft steps of shoes on the pavement and the heavy breathing of someone nearby, but Ren was still praying at the shrine. 

“Akechi-kun!” Akechi’s smile quickly faded away and was instead filled with dread as he heard a familiar voice. 

“Haru?” Haru’s eyes seemed to glow under the streetlamps and Akechi could hear her fast shallow breaths.

“What are you doing?” 

“I’m leaving.” 

“And then what? How will you atone for everything you’ve done?”

“I don’t know, but I wasn’t atoning for anything while working for you.”

“But you were. You were the head of the PR team, you led charity events and helped the workers in my company.” 

Akechi scoffed, his signature response to confrontation, “It was all you. You signed off on everything and provided the resources. I didn’t do anything.”

“No it wasn’t. It was only ever your ideas. I trusted that you knew what was best for the people and you would try your best. I never looked back on my decision. So come back and continue to atone.” 

Akechi felt his body tense up. He took slow, short steps towards Haru and gripped the collar of her pink sweater bringing her face inches away from his. 

“Why? Why don’t you hate me?!” Akechi struggled to get his words out. His voice was quiet and hoarse

“I do hate you!” Haru exclaimed, “You can be so arrogant, selfish, and somehow pitiful. You can do so much I can’t. Worst of all you can’t seem to accept the fact that you can change. You and I are more than our fathers.”  

His grip on her collar loosened, his hands slowly shifted over and held onto her shoulders, his knees buckled, and his head rested under her head. His eyes felt watery as his breathing hitched. He could feel a wellspring of emotions rush forth from his chest. He began to cry. It was something he hadn’t done in years, but it felt cathartic. After a few moments, Akechi lifted his head up, staring into Haru’s soft bronze eyes. His harsh gaze was reduced to a soft longing.

“Thank you Ren.” Haru said as she helped Akechi stand up

Haru began to walk away with Akechi beside her. They walked their way to a limo parked at the southern entrance of the shopping district. Ren smiled as he made his way home only for it to fade as soon as he opened his phone and realized he had school in a few hours. 

___

Akechi and Haru sat next to each other on the plush leather seats of the limo. The low rumbling sound of the engine and the slight bumps of the limo were comforting and reminded him of his time in Mementos. 

“I apologize for leaving so abruptly.” Akechi started, cutting through the silence that filled the limo

“It might be a little late for the apology.” Haru replied in a hushed tone, only to lighten her tone “But I appreciate the kind words you wrote in the letter. Just promise me that you’ll tell me when you leave, ok?” 

“I promise, but I’ll be with you for a long time.” Akechi replied with a hint of red on his cheeks

“Another proposal? My my, you can be so bold sometimes, Akechi-kun.” Haru said with a light chuckle 

Akechi blushed harder as Haru began to hum a tune, the same one she hummed when he first helped her with the garden and just like last time he felt his eyelids getting heavy. He began to doze off. Akechi’s head began to rest on Haru’s shoulder when he fell asleep. Haru brought his head down and onto her lap as she continued to hum her tune. 

Akechi woke up to a soft feeling under his head. The window was higher than his eye level, meaning he ended up sideways again, but he didn’t remember it happening this time. He looked up and noticed Haru’s fair skin. She seemed to be in a peaceful slumber. His head remained on her lap as he checked his phone for the time. 

7:49 am, September 14.

It was morning of the same day, but in the tinted windows of the limo, it still felt like it was night time while the coffee and staying up late didn’t help the feeling either. Akechi lifted his head and knocked on the window that separated them from the driver. 

“Excuse me, but how much longer until we reach the apartment?” 

“Just a few more minutes.” 

When the driver parked the car, Akechi gently pushed Haru awake, but she remained asleep. Akechi tried again with a little more force, but she continued to sleep. He sighed, putting his right arm under her legs and his left under her back. He thought that she was a little heavier than she looked, but he carried her from the entrance to the elevator and up to her apartment room, with stares from a few onlookers. His arms began to burn as he tried to open the door. Akechi stumbled into the apartment as he tried to keep her up. When he entered her room he set her down gently on her bed. He sat down on the edge of the bed, arms aching, legs trembling, and his lungs burning trying to gasp for air that didn’t stab his insides. He noticed the various plants that decorated her room and was reminded of the plants he was given a long time ago. Akechi walked out of her room and wrote on a sticky note that he would come back later and taped it to the side of her door that faced her room. 

He ventured back to the apartment that he still paid rent even if he never used it recently. He walked around the vacant apartment and grabbed the vase from the apartment and left the apartment. The flowers were still alive, albeit a little dull. Haru’s gardening abilities showed in her plants’ resilience. He studied the flowers as he brought them back to Haru’s apartment and placed the vase on the kitchen table. Akechi opened the tea cupboard and grabbed his favorite brand of loose black tea leaves and began brewing two cups. Akechi waited for the third steep to finally enjoy the tea and as he drank his cup he handed the other one to his roommate and boss. 

Haru sipped on her tea and let her eyes wander where she noticed the vase on the table, “You kept them? After all this time?”  

“Of course, they were such a beautiful sight and a stark display of your intelligence and emotions.” Akechi explained 

“Oh? Do you know what the flowers mean?” 

“Not all of them, but the main one, yes. The black rose, a symbol of death and hatred.” 

“Yes, but did you know it has another meaning? Sometimes it signifies new beginnings.” Haru brought her hand to his chin, slowly tilting his head down towards her as she stood on her tiptoes. She was centimeters away from his face, he stared into her soft bronze expecting eyes and she stared into his harsh auburn eyes, that slowly softened. Akechi hesitated as his gaze shifted to her soft pink lips, but as he watched Haru slowly pull herself away he brought himself closer to her and she responded in kind, locking lips with him. She caught a slight earthy flavor escaping his lips and he caught a slight cherry flavor escaping her lips. Akechi pulled away and looked at Haru’s beaming smile. She let out a little chuckle as she walked away sipping her cup of tea, while Akechi stood still, resting against the kitchen counter with a furious blush on his face, watching her walk away.